Video Poker

Anyone who follows trends in popular culture will already know that poker has enjoyed an impressive comeback over the course of the past decade. There are television programs dedicated specifically to competition games of poker as well as hundreds of tournaments each year as well. The prizes in some of these games can be enormous, but a more modest player may want to also explore their options in video poker too.

What is video poker?

Interestingly enough, an avid poker enthusiast can find video poker games in regular land based casinos or even in many of the best online casinos too. The way that a game of video poker works is extremely simple. The player puts from one to five coins on the hand as a wager, the video poker machine or game then deals the player five cards from a standard deck of (electronic) playing cards. The player then chooses which of the cards to “hold” and which to “discard”. The machine then deals replacement cards, and pays the player according to the strength of their hand.

Is that it? Yes, as you can see video poker is not a competition against other players or even against a machine – it is simply a player trying to build the strongest hand possible through a single discard and deal scenario. This is about the most pressure-free setting in which a player might be able to enjoy poker fun, but it also gives someone the opportunity for big wins too.

Consider that any video game versions of Poker will have a host of different pay tables and a few different bonus options too. This means that some of the games (if the player does the research) will have a return option of more than 100% of the wager. This means that a savvy player can actually find a way to eliminate the traditional house advantage.

Of course, the house advantage is actually not much of an issue to most fans of the video poker games because their real focus is mastering their video poker strategy. For example, there are a dozens of variations of poker including something like Jacks or Better which itself has a bunch of different pay tables and strategies required in order to win.
So, the ultimate value of a game of poker played in the new video format is really to help someone to develop their ability to consider the best hands, how they might discard some of their cards in a way that opens them up to better opportunity, and all while still trying to get the highest winnings possible too.

It is important to remember that gaming experts always recommend that players do a bit of research and leg work in order to find the video options with the best pay tables and the games asking for the strategies that the player has already mastered. This is because mistakes in judgment and lousy payouts can often pull a player into a losing streak, but with just a few minutes of exploration this same scenario is easily avoided.

As Casino Video Poker became more popular both in online and land based casinos, the machines got a lot better and now instead of having to go around with coins in your hands or in your pocket (at least in land based casinos) you now charge a special card or voucher and simply insert it into the machine and you can play until it runs over or until you decide to quit. In case you win, it automatically prints you a new slip or charge your card and then you can cash out your winnings by taking your card or slip to the cashier and cashing out the funds on your card.